In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas sits down with Jan Lynn-Matern, Founder and General Partner at Emerge, a global pre-seed fund backed by over 100 leading operators in the future of work and learning. Jan shares Emerge’s mission to democratize access to opportunity for early-stage founders, providing not just capital but deep expertise and a community of seasoned professionals.

Together, Andreas and Jan dive into how AI is transforming work and education. They discuss Emerge’s investment philosophy and focus on impact, the importance of nurturing curiosity from a young age, and Jan's insights on the European market and its dynamics. Jan sheds light on the evolving landscape of education, the challenges and opportunities posed by generative AI, and how these shifts are redefining job markets. The conversation explores the critical need for adaptability and upskilling within organizations to keep up with technological change and how AI could become a powerful tool for enhancing learning and career development.

This episode offers a nuanced look at Jan’s journey, Emerge’s investment approach, and the unique role AI plays in reshaping the future of work, learning, and access to opportunity.

Watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧 chapters for easy navigation available on the Spotify/Apple episode.

✍️ Show notes

Why we are here — Emerge Manifesto

Emerge is a $73m pre-seed fund backed by 100+ of the world’s best future of work and learning operators. AI is fundamentally reshaping how we learn, find and do our jobs, and the companies that harness this shift will define the future. Our vision is to democratise access to opportunity by being a catalytic partner for early-stage founders focused on this seismic shift.

We were the first specialist future of work and learning investor in Europe. Over the past decade, we have made 80+ investments in companies now valued at over $2b and impacting more than 31M people worldwide.

The reason we do what we do is because we got lucky. We’re the kids of immigrants, refugees and working-class parents, and we were lucky to receive world-class education and training that gave us access to career opportunities our parents could only dream of.

Now we are on a mission to support the most important transition the world will see this century. The opportunity to live up to your full potential should not be a privilege but a right for everyone.

What we offer founders

Our mission is to be the best first cheque for founders

We have designed a three-pronged value proposition for pre-seed founders: we write big cheques, early; we match you with world-class operators to enable you to move faster; and we’re in your corner during future fundraises.

* 1) We write big cheques, early: The most important thing early on is to act fast and make bold moves, but you can only do so if you don’t have to worry about fundraising. Unlike most pre-seed investors, we are unafraid to write significant cheques ($500k — $2.5m) into pre-revenue, often pre-product companies — to enable you to focus on building.

“Emerge’s process was fast and they took a high conviction bet on us very early on. With our first institutional round, that was exactly what we were looking for. Together with the incredible support of their VPs, we knew Emerge was the perfect fit for us.” — Richard Weiqi Zhang, co-founder at Solvely Labs, which develops AI agents for learning

* 2) We match you with world-class operators: You will learn from those who have been in your shoes and have built 50 of the top 100 future of work and learning companies in the world. We match you with mentors, advisors and even independent board members from our community of 100+ Venture Partners, spanning every future of work and learning category, to accelerate your path to product-market fit and Series A. Every company we invest in directly benefits from this community and our resulting portfolio NPS is a stunning 90.

“Being able to rely on some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs in our industry for detailed advice on topics such as product expansion, positioning and pricing has massively accelerated our learning. Getting Emerge as a pre-seed investor was like getting a one year headstart on our competitors.” — Dominik Mate Kovacs, founder and CEO of Colossyan, the global AI video company

* 3) We’re in your corner during subsequent fundraises: When the time is right, we move mountains to raise your next round. As of today, an incredible 80% of our fund investments have gone on to raise up-rounds following our initial investment, raising from the likes of Index, Maveron, Lakestar, Partech, Iconiq, Earlybird, Localglobe, First Round and Founder Collective.

“Emerge were our first investor at pre-seed and have introduced us to the lead investor of every subsequent round, inclusive of our Series B. They have been so crucial to our success.” — Ben Drury, co-founder and CEO of Yoto, the global early years consumer brand

In short, we are the market experts you need to help you go from startup to IPO.

➡ Building a company transforming the future of work or learning? Get in touch! The easiest way to do so is to send us your deck via our simple Typeform, here.

What are we looking for?

When we say early, we mean early. While traction is always helpful, we primarily look for founders who we believe can change the world, pursuing big ideas in market categories we believe in.

* Founders who will change the world: We look for founding teams with the propensity to think big, the ability to move fast and the skills to create value. Throughout our investment process, we build a detailed picture of your founding team — how you think and execute, and how you have challenged the status quo.

* Big ideas in market categories we believe in: We are a thesis-driven investor. As market experts, we think as deeply about the market opportunities founders are pursuing as they do. We deeply understand every area we invest in, with strong confidence that our specialist knowledge can add value. Read the ‘request for startups’ section of this manifesto to learn about our current interest areas. Our thesis constantly evolves and this document is not updated in real-time, so if your idea is not represented in the list but you are building something exciting in this space, get in touch with us anyway.

If we are convinced these two factors are in place, we are ready to partner with you, no matter how early you are on product or traction.

Our investment process, from the founders’ perspective

* Get in touch: The easiest way to get in touch is to send us your deck via this link.

* Exploration: If we see a fit, we will arrange a first call with one of our investment team, often followed by a demo walk-through.

* Monday Meeting: The next stage is to present to all three Partners at a Monday Meeting, after which we give you a strong indication of how likely we are to make an offer and you will start meeting some of our Venture Partners as potential matches. This can be as soon as one week after our first call.

* Investment Committee: The final stage is our investment committee meeting, in advance of which we will work collaboratively with you to build a deeper analysis of the opportunity.

* Term sheet: 2–4 weeks after our first call, you receive a term sheet from us and get matched with the best Venture Partners for your journey.

Our investment thesis

A new world

Will robots steal our jobs? The short answer is: yes, they might, but if we can adapt, we’ll get a better one.

AI is changing everything — it’s a general purpose technology, so it affects every aspect of how we live, learn and work. Some parts of our jobs will be automated, some augmented and the rest will be performed by people who can work most effectively alongside AI. These changes are bigger than anything we’ve seen since the Industrial Revolution.

In addition, AI will add more to global GDP by 2030 than the current output of the United Kingdom. That growth will create plenty of good jobs (up to 50 million), many of which will be in new types of occupations that haven’t even existed before.

In a nutsh...